Dear friends,
"Thank you for having our lives at heart!": this is the greeting from China, sent to AsiaNews by a priest recently released from prison. Very similar messages come in frommany parts of Asia where the human person is humiliated and the Church and religions persecuted.
This year AsiaNews is committed to supporting Msgr. Taddeo Ma Daqin, the auxiliary bishop of Shanghai who is paying for his loyalty to the Pope under arrest. In Pakistan, along with Paul Batthi, we have helped saved the lives of Rimsha Masih, a disabled child falsely accused of blasphemy. In the Middle East we are following the difficult journey towards peace of Christians, Muslims and Jews who reject fundamentalism and want to live together.
And above all, we have been serving churches and Asian societies by offering them, in real time, the message of truth and love of Benedict XVI.
The economic crisis weighs heavily on many families in the world, and today, asking for your support embarrasses us. But without this service, many voices would be drownedand many lights dimmed. Friends share everything, suffering and joys. Even the poorest can dare to open up the horizon of their mission and heart.